INTERCONNECTS

SAN JOSE, CA -- Cisco Systems, Inc. today introduced its first 10 Gigabit Ethernet modules for the Cisco Catalyst(R) 6500 Series switch. The addition of 10 Gigabit Ethernet for the Catalyst 6500 offers increased scalability in performance and intelligent network services to meet the needs of today's fast-growing enterprise and service-provider networks. Building upon the scalable Catalyst 6500 architecture, the new 10 Gigabit Ethernet modules extend Ethernet technology from the local area network (LAN) to the metropolitan area network (MAN), providing customers with increased bandwidth, increased network reach and intelligent network services while protecting existing investments in their fiber infrastructure and in the Catalyst 6500 platform. By supporting high-bandwidth connections over extended distances, the Catalyst 6500 10 Gigabit Ethernet modules enable customers to implement new applications such as server-less buildings, data center remote mirroring, disaster recovery, E-learning, imaging/3D modeling, as well as high bandwidth inter-POP (Point of Presence) connections. "We believe the addition of 10 Gigabit Ethernet to the Catalyst 6500 will allow us to enhance our network infrastructure to support future architectures and applications to ultimately drive down the cost of bandwidth for our customers," said Robert Hagens, senior vice president of Global Architecture for Level 3 Communications. "In addition to increasing the scalability and flexibility of our network, we also look to vendor-interoperable 10 Gigabit Ethernet technology to allow Level 3 to push additional services to the edge network." Cisco's Catalyst 6500 10 Gigabit Ethernet modules further accelerate the Ethernet evolution, providing customers with real solutions to extend and increase the efficiency of their network infrastructure. The Cisco Catalyst 6500 Series 10 Gigabit Ethernet modules include: -- The Cisco Catalyst 6500 Series 10GBASE-EX4 Metro 10 Gigabit Ethernet Module, a single port, 1550 nanometer (nm) line card that supports metro connections for extended reach distances of up to 50 km over Single Mode Fiber. Also compatible with the Cisco 7600 Series Internet Router, it is ideal for intercampus and MAN connections between the Catalyst 6500s and/or Cisco 7600s. -- Cisco Catalyst 6500 Series 10GBASE-LR 10 Gigabit Ethernet Module, a single port, 1310 nm serial line card that supports a distance of up to 10 km over single mode fiber. As future modular optics become available, customers will be able to reuse the base module of this line card to support changing optics requirements. In addition, it will interoperate with other devices that implement the Draft IEEE 802.3ae 10 Gigabit Ethernet specifications. "While increased and scalable bandwidth are key to enterprise and service provider networks, the delivery of intelligent network services and the enabling of new applications while lowering the overall cost of ownership are also critical," said Tim Weiss, senior analyst, Telechoice. "Cisco's Catalyst 6500 10 Gigabit Ethernet modules can address these network requirements and challenges, in addition to providing investment protection for customers utilizing its flagship Catalyst 6500 platform." The Catalyst 6500 10 Gigabit Ethernet modules occupy one slot in a Catalyst 6500, with no limitation to the number of modules supported per chassis. In addition, the modules support all the Layer 2, Layer 3 and Layer 4-7 features and intelligent network services of the Catalyst 6500, including multi-port 10 Gigabit EtherChannel, traffic classification and marking, traffic policing, content switching, firewall, intrusion detection, and jumbo frames. With Cisco 10 Gigabit EtherChannel, the Catalyst 6500 supports aggregation of up to any eight 10 Gigabit Ethernet ports in the same chassis, providing future-proof interbuilding, intercampus, and inter-POP connectivity in the MAN, and critical backbone trunks in the LAN, by enabling flexible scaling of bandwidth as network traffic continues to grow. Since the Cisco Catalyst 6500 offers advanced network management features, customers can easily configure and monitor 10 Gigabit Ethernet modules within the Catalyst system with the CiscoWorks family of network management solutions or the Cisco Element Management Framework (CEMF) for service provider network environments. Customers utilizing the Catalyst 6500 10 Gigabit Ethernet modules also benefit from scalable bandwidth by supporting hardware-based Cisco Express Forwarding (CEF) as well as distributed CEF (dCEF) for maximum control plane and forwarding performance. This feature is well-suited for storage networking applications that demand high-density Gigabit Ethernet aggregation into a 10 Gigabit Ethernet core, as well as high-density, 10 Gigabit Ethernet aggregation in the core or WAN edge to create distributed supercomputing networks. Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque, N.M., demonstrated a prototype of Cisco's Catalyst 10 Gigabit Ethernet module last year at SuperComputing 2000 in Dallas, achieving 1.7 Gigabyte performance across the 10 Gigabit Ethernet links. Sandia also is participating as a field-testing site for the new Catalyst 6500 10 Gigabit Ethernet modules. "To enable the advancement of ultra-scale computing systems, it must be built on commercially available building blocks," said Leonard Stans, manager, Advanced Networking Integration Department, Sandia National Labs. "With the release of the Catalyst 6500 10 Gigabit Ethernet modules, we are another step closer to the computer systems of tomorrow." Cisco's new 10 Gigabit Ethernet modules are compatible with the Cisco 7600 Series Internet Router. In addition, Cisco Catalyst 10 Gigabit Ethernet modules are fully integrated within Cisco AVVID, the Architecture for Voice, Video and Integrated Data. For more information visit www.cisco.com